


All in a Nott

by ArsenicAssassin



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Bashing, BAMF oc, But a sweet dick, Draco is a dick at first, F/F, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Good Malfoys, Good Theodore Nott, Hogwarts First Year, Hogwarts Fourth Year +, M/M, Minor Ronald Weasley Bashing, Most of the time, No Beta, They have their moments, aka they're idiots, slowburn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-05-15 23:31:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19306081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArsenicAssassin/pseuds/ArsenicAssassin
Summary: As the cousin of the infamous boy-who-lived as well as the niece of a 'pardoned' deatheater, it's clear to say that Thalia Nott's life was the definition of a disaster waiting to happen. Unable to look after one of her cousins for most of her life, she focuses her attention on her other cousin, Theodore Nott until they reach Hogwarts where, with the introduction of Harry James Potter, her life gets tied all into a knot.Already posted on FFN but decided to post it on here as well.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Heya, this is already posted on FFN but I decided to post it on here as well because I use AO3 a lot more now. I will try to update regularly but I wouldn't get your hopes up too much.   
> Disclaimer: The characters you don't recognise are probably mine, everyone else is JK Rowling's and I get nothing out of this other than the joy of people reading it.

As the morning dawned on the first of November, there was a crack that disturbed the peace and silence in Godric Hollow.

The young woman that had suddenly appeared didn't hesitate before running towards the end of a lane that she had grown up on. As she reached the last house she halted in her steps whilst a sob ripped its way up her chest, the once beautiful cottage that was full to the brim of life only mere hours ago, stood destroyed - the roof of the home had obviously caved in and the upstairs windows had shattered, littering the garden with broken shards.

Just as she stepped towards the little wooden gate at the beginning of the garden, a man stumbled out of the front door, clutching something small in his arms.

"Charlie!" Exclaimed the man in a hoarse voice as he stumbled towards the young woman. But just before he reached her she stepped forward and held her arms out in a gesture for the little bundle that was nested in the crook of the man's arm.

"Siri-" She began to say before another sob tore its way through her lips. The man didn't pass the swaddle over to the woman - instead, he grabbed her with his spare arm and pulled her into a tight hug, careful not to squish the bundle between them. He held her tightly until she pulled back to look him intently in the eyes.

"Lily and James are they- are they gone?" She finally managed to choke out the question that she dreaded the answer to.  
It seemed like the man couldn't bring himself to answer her for he turned his head away from her, fat tears rolling down his cheeks in synchronization to the woman. This seemed to be the wrong answer for the women as she tried to get out of the man's grasp to check for herself. Yet he wouldn't let her go. He had already suffered looking at the man he had claimed as a brother, he couldn't even begin to imagine what she would feel if she saw her twin's glassed over eyes as he stared into the empty abyss.

"Sirius, let me go, please! I need to see them. They can't be dead! He can't be dead!" Near the end of her plea, she began to shout hysterically. Her whole body shook as the grief took over her, she continued shaking her head in denial - surely she would've known that something bad was going to happen to her twin. She should've known, she could've helped. These words repeated in her head, circling her mind like vultures preying on her show of weakness. She would've been consumed by the guilt if it wasn't for Sirius grabbing her head and raising it to look at him.

"Charlie, Charlie! Look at me please," She could see in his eyes that he was also falling to pieces but was keeping it together for the time being. "Think of Harry, we're all he has left. Please, Charlie, don't break on me now." As he said this he slowly let go of Charlie making sure that she was able to support herself before drawing the bundle from out of the crook in his arm.

As Charlie peered down into the cloth, she noticed a pair of familiar emerald green eyes peer curiously back at her. She gently moved the blanket away from his face so she could get a better look at him, to reassure herself that he was safe and unharmed. Or mostly unharmed.

"Paddy, he's hurt." She rushed out as she grabbed a handkerchief from her pocket. She, ever so carefully, wiped the blood away from his forehead to reveal a lightning bolt shaped cut that was already beginning to scar over. She stared at it, confused for a moment before looking up at her friend.

"Paddy, I don't understand, the Fidelius charm- you were their secret keeper were you not?" She watched as shame and guilt flooded his grey irises before he looked away for a second time that evening.

"I was at the beginning," He confessed as he looked down at the little boy still clutched in his arm. "But we switched."

The confession caused Charlie to gasp in disbelief. "Why hadn't I been told?"

This caused Sirius to look up at the grieving woman. "It was Peter's idea, he said how, because of your brother-in-law, that telling you that we had switched would be extremely risky. You were originally our first choice after me but with Thalia, we didn't want to risk you. James especially didn't want anything happening to you. So we choose Peter." His eyes darkened then but just as he was going to explain more, they were interrupted.

"Charlie, Sirius'? Where's 'arry?" The giant man, who had joined the two, asked.

"He's right here Hagrid. We have him. Why do you ask?" Charlie replied as she looked at the baby in mention.

"Dumbledore has asked me to take 'arry to his aunt's." Replied the larger man as he looked down at the two of them. He took a step forward as if to come to grab Harry out of Sirius' arm but before he could take another step, Charlie pushed Sirius behind her and faced Hagrid.

"I am his aunt Hagrid, therefore you don't need to take him anywhere." She stated coldly as she glared at the man who she viewed as unwanted at the time.

The man paused whilst realizing his mistake. He coughed roughly. " I mean his Muggle aunt. Dumbledore- "

"Isn't related, nor in charge of my nephew's wellbeing, therefore, he will not make the decision, I will be. Lily and James," She choked on her twin's name for a second. "Made Sirius his godfather meaning that he is to look after Harry. Not Petunia."

Hagrid hesitated before pressing on with Dumbledore's orders. "Now Charlie, you mus' know that both of your family situations aren't ideal at the current moment. Perhaps Albus is just thinking about that. Maybe he wants 'arry to go to his other aunt's 'til everythin' has calmed down in the wizardin' world." He could see that the thought of leaving Harry was too painful to think about for either of the two young adults.

Sirius finally piped up. "Hagrid, I'm his godfather, Lily and James made me promise to look after Harry if anything were to happen to them. I'm not about to break that promise, not now."

"But Sirius, 'arry will be safer in the muggle world. If he stayed with you, he would be at risk with all the death eaters still at large." Sirius realized that Hagrid was making a good point, especially with Peter out there somewhere. With a sigh, Sirius began to hand Harry over to the giant, only to be stopped by Charlie who had a hysterical glint to her eyes.

"Sirius! What are you doing? You know what Petunia is like!" She cried as she clutched onto his arm tightly.

"He'll only be there for a year at most until it's safe," Sirius begged her to understand but she was falling into hysteria again as she began shouting for him not to let Harry go. Just as she was beginning to try and pull Harry out of her best friend's arms, another crack broke through the argument. They all turned towards the new man who was running towards them with a worried expression on his face.

"Charlie!" He shouted as he sprinted towards her. They collided as he brought her into a fierce hug. "I was so worried, I woke up and you were gone."

He pulled away from her as he noticed their company. He paled as he observed the house then looked towards the bundle in Sirius' arm, which now had a little tuft of black hair poking out of the top. He brought his wife back into another hug and kept her there as they began to explain what had happened. To Charlie's grief, her husband agreed with Sirius and Hagrid.

"Charlie, It'll only be for a year or two, just until everything has calmed down." His arms tightened around her - mostly to comfort her but also to hold her back as Sirius began to hand Harry over to Hagrid, a mournful yet determined expression plastered across his face.

"Hagrid take my bike, I won't be needing it anymore." He stated as he purposely avoided looking in the direction of the woman who was currently struggling to get out of her husband's hold. Hagrid accepted the offer and turned to leave with Harry clutched in his hand.

"Sirius why?! He's your godson!" Screamed Charlie as tears began to roll down her cheeks in an ever-growing stream.

Sirius then turned towards her after watching Hagrid leave. "I need to find Peter and hand him straight to the Dementors, it's what he deserves." He then apparated away from Godric's Hollow just as everyone began to wake up.

The couple stood outside of the ruins of the once happy Potter home before the man left - half carrying to the woman - as the crowd began to gather.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won't normally update this quickly but I thought that the first chapter was too short to get properly into the story. Enjoy :)

10 years later,

22nd June 1991.

Nott Manor was an extremely intimidating building; with grande rooms that contained hundreds of galleons worth of art and expansive gardens that were perfectly in order - not a tulip out of line. To most, they would avoid going to the house at all costs but to this eleven-year-old girl, she couldn't run up the driveway fast enough - for today was the day she saw her cousin for the first time in over a month.

When Theodore Nott was younger, he used to stayed behind with his mother whilst his father went away on business trips. But, when his mother suddenly passed away from sickness, he was henceforth brought along on the trips as his father deemed the rest of their current family a bad influence on his son. According to Emmanuel Nott, his brother, Ezekiel Nott and his sister-in-law Charlotte Nott were a disgrace to the family, with their opinion on 'mudbloods' being the complete opposite of his, not to mention how they were against the entire Nott family in the last war. The only good thing about that side of his family was his niece, Thalia Nott, who he had been trying to raise 'properly' - under the nose of his brother - for years.

It was his niece that was currently rapping her knuckles on the large oak doors in quick rapid succession - her untidy hair swishing around her. Her hazel eyes sparkled with glee at the thought of rejoining her cousin once more. Her appearance would obviously displease her uncle but she hadn't a care in the world at that moment in time; her cousin was back. The cousin that was pretty much her twin in every way but blood. Even then, it's pretty close.

The door suddenly swung open to reveal an old house elf by the name of Hupsie who had been working for the Nott family since Emmanuel and Ezekiel were young boys. The house elf wore a pristine white toga which matched the entire manor - not a speck of dust or dirt in sight. Hupsie bowed deeply at the dark-haired girl whilst gesturing her to enter the grand building. Without pausing, Thalia thanked the house elf before sprinting upstairs to her cousin's room where she knew he would be located. To most, the manor would be like a maze to navigated but after many visits over the years, she knew the layout like it was the back of her hand.

Without knocking or being given permission to enter, Thalia burst into her cousin's bedroom - the door slamming against the wall from the force of the girl slamming into it at a sprint. Her cousin, Theodore Nott, spun around, his eyes widening in surprise before a mass slammed into him at a great momentum, knocking him to the floor. He let out a gasp in pain as his back hit the floor.

"Theo! I'm so glad you're back, how are you? How was it? What happened?" The small girl rushed to get up, pulling her cousin up with her. She glanced him up and down, wincing as he reached his arm back to check his head. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." She exclaimed loudly. Theo, once assured that his head hadn't cracked open, looked at the girl in front of him.

"Lia, your hair! My father is going to get angry if he sees you in this state - you know what he did last time." The girl in question just shrugged whilst running a hand through her hair trying to tame it. It only made it worse.

"He won't be that mad, he'll be glad to see me." She tried to comfort her cousin but he began to usher her towards his ensuite.

"No, he'll be furious. He's in a bad enough mood as it is. You should've seen how father shouted at Hupsie when she didn't open a door fast enough. I thought he was going to hit her." He started to hyperventilate at the thought of his father hitting his baby cousin - his twin. "You need to sort it out before he realizes you're here. I'll call Hupsie, she can help."  
He pushed her towards the collection of hair products, panic clear in his eyes.

"Theo, calm dow-"

Theo snapped, "You don't get it! He'll hurt you! That's what he does if anything is less than perfect! Especially when he's in one of his moods. You're not exempt from that, nobody is." The fear and pain in his eyes caused Thalia to pause. She studied his face, then the rest of his body.

"... He's hurt you, hasn't he?" The blood drained from her cousin's already pale face. He stuttered before masking his face into a calm expression.

"No. But you need to look presentable at all times." He straightened his back and lifted his chin up as he said those words. The look on his face and his body language made his words seem forced which concerned Thalia. What had happened during this business trip?

"'Dor, what did he do to you?" She watched as he flinched before returning to his polite stance in front of her.

"Nothing to concern yourself with, dear cousin. You need to be concerning yourself over your hair. What happened to you? Were you dragged through a hedge backwards?"

"Forwards actually," She replied cheekily, "I was in the garden when I got told you were back." She brushed her hair as she spoke, obviously worried about her cousin and what would happen if she didn't.

Theo sighed before slowly enclosing his arms around her shoulders in a light hug. The movement was carefully planned out to reduce the aching in his back. Thalia gently put the brush back onto the table and reached her arm back to hold his arm - gently, as if any sudden movements would spook him.

"I won't tell anyone that I know. It can be our little secret, yeah?" He looked uncertain, even at her promise before he gradually nodded - agreeing to the newly made secret. Once he agreed, she grinned - all the problems now forgotten.

"So what did you get me? Where did you go?" She questioned quickly. If it wasn't for the fact that Theo had grown up with her, he feared he wouldn't have been able to understand her.

"Give me a second and I will tell you. We've got to make sure you look impeccable just in case my father comes to find you. I'm sure that Hupsie will have announced your arrival to him by now - she'll be wanting to avoid his temper as well." At the first sentence, Theo could see her roll her eyes before growing serious at his reasoning.

"Don't roll your eyes, cousin," He pinched her sharply on her arm. "You know my father thinks that is unbecoming of a pureblood lady."

"Good thing I'm not a lady then, huh?" She retorted angrily as she rubbed her arm to soothe the pain. Her cousin just shook his head in exasperation before moving towards the other door in his ensuite.

"You're so lucky that we share an ensuite so you can get changed in your room."

"What's wrong with my clothing?" Thalia looked down at her dress - it was similar to what she had been wearing all summer - a simple periwinkle summer dress with black pumps that she could run around in without worrying about tripping over the hem.

"Father will probably start demanding that you wear less childish clothing now that we are about to go to Hogwarts, I wouldn't be surprised to see your wardrobe suddenly filled with 'proper' dresses of the correct length that looks ladylike. I'm sure he has asked Lady Malfoy and Lady Zabini to go shopping for you."

Thalia groaned loudly. "Of course they would, any excuse to dress me up like a doll. Why couldn't they have daughters?"

Theo nudged her into her room whilst laughing. "You know in pureblood society, as long as you have a son to carry your family name, there's no point in risking another pregnancy in having a daughter."

She spun around to argue with him but paused when his laughter cut off abruptly.

"You are quite right son." Thalia's eyes widened before twirling around to face her uncle.

"Uncle!" She ran towards him about to throw her arms around him when he put a hand forward to stop her. She halted, suddenly unsure how to act.

"Little Thalia, look how you've grown!" He exclaimed happily before looking her over completely. His eyes grew stormy as he observed her appearance. Her hair was half brushed, her black pumps were covered in mud while her dress had grass stains over it from messing around in the garden.

"My darling, why are you not dressed properly? Did your mother really let you outside looking like this?" He gestured all over her, tutting at her in a condescending way. "Obviously your mother isn't going to teach the pureblood customs of a lady."

Thalia opened her mouth to respond but her uncle just shh'd her. He began pacing furiously in her room making the cousins look at each other in fear. Theodore reached forward and pulled Thalia slightly behind him - prepared to take the brunt of the pain if need be. His father luckily didn't notice, too busy muttering to himself.

After 3 tense minutes in silence, Emmanuel looked up - his black eyes pining themselves on her.

"I have you this summer and the summer before your third year correct?" They nodded in unison before glancing at each other again - this time, however, the older man noticed them.

"Worried are you? What has my son been telling you, my darling?" His voice was drenched in sweetness and amusement but even a baby could hear the underlying darkness, his promise of anger and hidden violence if she did not answer the question correctly.

Thalia looked slightly down, coping Hupsie's actions of submission. "He hasn't told me anything yet, he told me to make myself more presentable before we spoke of your travels. In my excitement to see you again, I fear I did not make myself look acceptable enough. Please accept my apologies, Uncle, It was not my mother's fault but my own." This seemed to calm her uncle down to an extent - obviously believing that they had not spoken of his violence.

"I accept your apology but I must insist that your mother is at equal faults for not making sure that you are orderly before you left your home." Thalia conceded with a nod, her head still facing the floor. The felt a large hand grab her chin, forcing it upwards to look her uncle in the eye. He'd obviously moved Theo out of the way to get to her as her cousin now was stood a few feet to her right which his hands behind his back, his spine straight and his chin up.

"When you are out in public or someone is speaking to you, you will look up and keep your spine straight. Understood?" He roughly let go of her head, allowing her to nod her head again. "Say it, young lady, it is no good you moving that pretty little head of yours about."

"Yes, Uncle."

"You should only bow your head to your husband or the Dark Lord should he return. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Uncle."

"Good girl, now get changed into something more befitting of a lady, call Hupsie to help you. Theodore and I shall be in the library waiting for you." He turned around and walked out of the room. "Come Theodore."

They left Thalia alone in her room to her thoughts. She stood there, silently glaring at where her uncle had stood only moments before. How dare he think she was going to follow the Dark Lord? Did her forget who her cousin was? It was equally bold of him to assume she would bow to her husband if she ever decided to get married. She knew that they lived in pureblood society where the girls were rarely married for love but still, her parents did not follow traditions so she didn't need to worry.

The crack of Hupsie arriving snapped her out of her thoughts. She was ushered into the ensuite where she washed her face and arms before sitting down and letting the elf brush her hair delicately before plaiting it into an elegant French braid. Unfortunately for the elf and girl, she had inherited the Potter family hair, meaning that it was thick and untamable. This meant that brushing and plaiting it took longer than expected. This meant that Hupsie had to quickly choose a dress and shoes.

The end result left Thalia briskly walking toward the library in a dark green dress that reached the middle of her shin; It had a boat neckline that bared the top of her shoulders. Her thick braid of hair hung over her left shoulder originally but her fast pace left it to fall off her collarbone so it sat in the middle of her back. She managed to get to the library only 30 minutes after her uncle and cousin.

"I apologise for making you wait so long, uncle." She quickly sat in the armchair closest to her cousin before smiling at her uncle.

He was obviously in a better mood than previously as he smiled back at her. It was his smile, so similar to her father's, that managed to trick the rest of the wizarding world into believing he was innocent and didn't follow the Dark Lord willingly. Yet, with that knowledge, Thalia didn't trust that smile - it meant that he was hiding something. Along with the fact that Theo reached for her hand as soon as she sat down, she worried that she had missed something whilst getting pampered by an old house-elf.

"It's fine, my darling. At least now you look proper for your station." Thalia could only hope her smile hadn't turned into a grimace at his words. Her station? She wasn't the Minister of Magic. Theo's hand squeezed hers in warning not to laugh so instead she just nodded. That was until she remembered her uncle's words from earlier.

"Thank you, uncle." He nodded his head (that hypocrite) at her in praise for her hasty change in action.

"Now, my darling, we have around an hour until Hupsie calls us for dinner. I believe you've been patient enough to deserve your present that Theodore and I have got you." Thalia sat up straighter and grinned at her family.

Her uncle passed her a small parcel that was wrapped in beautifully detailed golden wrapping paper with a silver pattern. She held it carefully, feeling the weight of it before finding the lining of the paper and gently unwrapping the present - hoping to save the beautiful paper. It took a few minutes of attentive work before an oak box was revealed. She glanced at her cousin to see him already looking at her. He gestured her to open the present and as she looked at her uncle, she could see why. Her uncle was never a patient man, especially when it had something to do with getting a reaction out of something he was involved with. How he survived Wizengamot she would never know.

Heeding her cousin's advice, she opened the box to find a necklace and a ring situated in it. Both of them contained the Nott family crest which contained a Celtic knot all around the outside of the crest. She placed the ring on her right ring finger and asked Theo to put the necklace on her as well. As she turned her back on her cousin, her uncle spoke.

"Your ring is for you to wear until you are engaged, then you are supposed to give it to Theodore should he have more than one child. Whereas, your necklace is for you to wear forever, so everyone knows what your house you were from before you were married." Why is he so set on getting her married? Merlin's beard, they were only 11!

"Thank you, uncle, I will always look after them." He smiled again at her gratitude, pleased that she wasn't arguing against all this mention of marriage.

"I must say that there was a reason for giving them to you now. You know that Theodore has had his ring for many years now but that is because he is the heir to this family whereas you are to marry into another pureblood family. The reason for giving them to you now is that there are only a few short months until you are both off to Hogwarts. I had thought of sending Theodore to Durmstang, however, I didn't want you to have to fend off all those your suitors by yourself." Suitors? Thought Thalia, Why is there so much talk about marriage and suitors? 

Her uncle continued. "I'm sure that your parents haven't spoken to you about suitors or marriage contracts, simply because their marriage was not formed from one. You are very fortunate that your mother was a pureblood, even a blood traitor of a pureblood is better than mudblood." He spat the word mudblood as if the name itself was a disease. "I know that your father will probably not accept a marriage contract unless you and I speak to him about it. But this doesn't mean that you should act like they don't exist. You are most likely going to be in Slytherin unless your mother's blood is more dominant than I thought. This means that you will be around proper lords and ladies so you should conduct yourself as such. Don't ever deny an escort but make sure that you have a chaperone. The Nott family name is dependent on how you two conduct yourselves whilst at Hogwarts. While we aren't the most sought after family, we are still pure and well off, meaning you will probably have plenty of suitors. I hope you find a good match whilst at Hogwarts - both of you." He stared intently at the cousins. He looked expectant which caused them both of them to give hurried replies.

"Of course Father, I will make sure to escort her, should I feel that the suitor is unworthy." This caused Emmanuel to nod in approval.

"I hope so too, Uncle." Thalia's reply obviously was too vague for her uncle causing him to raise his eyebrow at her. She hesitated before responding. "I just don't understand why we would be thinking about this during our first year. Shouldn't all the courting happen, say, in our fifth year when we are all older?" Her uncle closed his eyes and sighed.

"Age doesn't matter in our society, my darling. I was a good ten years older than Theodore's mother, this means that you may be courted by someone in their seventh year."

"And I am expected to let them escort me?" She exclaimed while beginning to rise up in her seat.

"Yes. You will let them escort you and you will be pleasant and ladylike towards all of them. I don't care how ugly or cruel they are - If they are pureblood and wealthy then you accept. You'll have to depend on your cousin to decide on who he thinks is worthy of your affections." He paused before glaring menacingly at Theo. "I will know if you are denying all of her suitors. Ezekiel may be useless but I'll be damned before I let him or his family destroy the family reputation - that includes both of you."

After that tense warning, the conversation came to an end as Hupsie popped into the library to tell them that dinner was served. The dinner was a relatively quiet affair - ending abruptly when Emmanuel was called to the Malfoy's for an unknown meeting. This left Thalia and Theo alone in the manor. But, before he had left, he ordered them to be in bed asleep for when he came back.

As they walked towards their rooms, Thalia wrapped her arm around Theo's shoulders which, because of the height difference between the two, left her walking along to corridor on her tiptoes.

"'Lia?"

"Yeah 'Dor?"

"I know you don't like all that suitor stuff my father was going on about and I know that you don't like the reasoning behind your present. I tried to tell him, I did, I promise..." He trailed off causing Thalia to look up at him. The faraway look in his eyes gave him away.

"Is that why he hit you? Because you questioned his decisions?"

"Yeah, he said that if I couldn't agree with him it meant that your parents' views had got to be and he needed to knock them out of me before they became permanent." He shrugged, trying to act nonchalant about it but Thalia was horrified.

"He beat you because you didn't agree with him?" Tears brimmed in her eyes at the fact that her cousin, her twin, got beaten by his father over her.

"You shouldn't have said anything. Presents aren't everything to me - I'd rather you be safe." He turned to face her after that, grabbing her shoulders and lowering his head to look her dead in the eye.

"It doesn't matter anymore, I've learnt my lesson. I won't do it again - not over a present. But if he goes to strike you, I will stand in front of you and take it." He shook his head. "That's not why I mentioned it; I meant to say that I've got a different present for you."

With that he carried on walking on to his room, leaving a frozen Thalia in the middle of the corridor. She suddenly realised he wasn't standing in front of her anymore and ran after him. When they entered his room he told her to sit on his bed and close her eyes. She moved to the middle of his bed, sitting with her legs crossed and one of his pillows clutched to her chest. She heard a drawer opening and closing before listening to him chuckle.

"When I said to sit on my bed, I meant at the edge of it, 'Lia." Her cheeks flamed up as she shuffled to the side of the bed. However, with her eyes closed, she couldn't tell where the edge of the bed was and ended up flat on her face on the floor with Theo laughing his head off.

"Thanks for the help!" She huffed as she stood back up and looked in the direction she thought he was in. It wasn't until he grabbed her shoulders and turned her around gently, that she suddenly realised she must have been facing a wall or empty space.

"Not a word, cousin."

"Of course." With his sarcasm as his reply, she opened her eyes to see him standing in front of her smirking.

"You weren't supposed to look but never mind." He sighed, but she wasn't interested.

"So where is my present?"

He pointed to himself. "Am I not a good enough present?" His smirk turned into a grin at her angry glare. "Okay, okay. Here you go." In his hand was a tiny animal. It wasn't until he moved towards the window that she realised what it was.

"Merlin's beard, It's a mooncalf!" She exclaimed as she came over to cuddle it.

"Not quite, It's a miniature version, you can get them in France. You can get just about any animal in miniature. Unless, of course, it's already small, like a bowtruckle." It appeared that his words weren't registering with his cousin who was busy cooing over the little animal. "They like to burrow in places of warm during the day so your trunk at school should be fine. It's just in case, you need somebody to talk to and I'm not there." At this, she squealed and hugged him tightly, causing him to flinch at the pain.

"Careful cousin, I still have a bruised back." She instantly let go and looked at him in guilt. But he waved her off.

"Don't apologise, It's not your fault. More importantly, what are you going to name him?"

"Felix. After Felix Felicis because he's going to be my little lucky charm." The cheesiness of the name made Theo burst into laughter before saying hello to little Felix.

They spent a little while going over how to care for him and how to keep him hidden from Emmanuel before heading off to bed. Making sure that Felix was safely tucked away and couldn't be seen by her uncle.

That night, Thalia slept facing the window with her little mooncalf curled by her side, burrowed under the blankets.


	3. Chapter 2

31st July 1991.

It'd been just over a month since Thalia began her holiday around her uncle's and already she could tell there was a difference between this visit and the previous ones. For example, she and Theo spent most of their days either with a tutor learning the basics about what they will be learning in the year to come or a tutor teaching them etiquette skills. Thalia was forced to spend even longer with that hag as she had to learn how to be 'ladylike' overnight. Apparently, it wasn't becoming of her to do anything fun, such as play Quidditch.

On the odd day that they weren't learning something, they would be going on social outings or looking after guests in the manor. The majority of these guests would be in the same social circle as her uncle - Lord and Lady Malfoy, Lord and Lady Greengrass and Lady Zabini were just a few who would grace their presence at the manor at a regular basis. They would all bring their children who would then have to be entertained by Thalia and Theo whilst the adults discussed 'business'. The idea was for their children to form friendships or allies that they could then use during their time at Hogwarts and into the working world afterwards.

In Thalia's opinion, they weren't terrible. Alright, Blaise and Draco would constantly compare whatever they'd just been bought by their parents. Vincent and Greg both had learning difficulties; Vince had severe dyslexia whilst Greg suffered from ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) which caused them both to struggle in their academics and become introverted around people. Pansy and Daphne mostly gossiped about the latest fashion while Millicent was more an animal lover than a people person.

But each of them had redeeming qualities; Blaise could tell amazing jokes, Draco was exceptionally loyal, Vince could talk for hours about baking and his artistic talents, Greg was amazing at gardening, Pansy could throw a quaffle through a hoop from the ground, Daphne was a brilliant dueller and Millie could recite facts about any creature you mentioned. Yet, none of the parents appreciated those facts, except maybe Narcissa Malfoy, Ezramelda Zabini and Thalia's parents.

However, to avoid her uncle getting excited about marriage contracts, Thalia mostly avoided the boys. Sure if the adults weren't there, they all got along fine - nobody mentioned their political views or argued what they thought of other people. Blaise and Thalia had already agreed that they were never going to make a marriage contract between them as they both viewed each other as honorary family.

Although, if Blaise's mother wanted him to marry and her uncle was about to marry her off to someone she hated, they made a blood oath that they would marry each other to avoid a terrible fate. Luckily for them, her uncle had to get through her parents first - more specifically her father - as it was the man of the family's job to form the marriage contract in this lovely patriarchal society.

Unfortunately for Thalia, it was one of those days where every pureblood child from the sacred 28 families that were her age, were coming to the manor for dancing lessons. It didn't matter to her uncle if it was her cousin's eleventh birthday. Not even her mother seemed to be able to get her out of this torture. Even though that didn't stop her from trying.

*Flashback*

"What do you mean Emmanuel? It's her cousin's birthday today! He turns eleven, she should at least get to meet him for the first time." Her mother sounded pissed off as she stormed through the manor after her brother-in-law who was trying to get away from the woman he detested.

"Didn't the great Albus Dumbledore say that you had plenty of time to see him? Surely that means that you can go see him another time where Thalia doesn't have to miss her dancing lessons?" Her uncle drawled his words and ended with a sneer, proving that his polite mask was slipping and he was getting angry.

"I've waited ten years to see him! How would you like it, not seeing Thalia for ten years after your brother and I were murdered?"

"Good thing you haven't been murdered then, isn't it?" Even Thalia gasped at that retort, thinking he had taken it too far. 

Her mother obviously thought the same, for she turned to grab her daughter's arm. Before she even took a step away from Emmanuel, he smirked and said.

"If you take her without my permission, you'll be breaking the contract we made after my wife's last wish. Do you really want to stop seeing Theodore as well as being unable to see Harrison?" Thalia could see tears running down her mother's cheeks as she let go of her arm, facing the elder Nott, her face as white as a ghost.

She seemed at a loss for words as she stared at him. She watched as he walked closer, stopping when he could reach Thalia before pulling the little girl behind him. He leant forward and whispered something in her mother's ear but Thalia couldn't hear what was spoken. She knew that it probably wasn't very kind as a fire was sparked in her mother's previously shattered eyes.

Thalia watched as her mother mouthed 'I love you' to her, before spinning and walking out of the manor. Her uncle watched until she completely left their sight before sighing and walking away. Leaving the girl to stand in shock at what had occurred.

*End Flashback*

It had taken Theo passing her Felix and giving her a one-armed hug for her to snap out of her momentary paralysis. He led her to her room and sat her down on her bed, waiting patiently for her to snap out of it. When she had finally told him everything and he expressed his own shock at the entire situation, did she realise they only had ten minutes until everyone else had arrived for the lesson.

They rushed to find their ballgowns and suits - yes, they were forced to practice in them because that was supposed to make them find it easier to do at an actual ball. Thalia ended up wearing a simple full-length gown that was the colour of a stormy ocean - a sort of mixture of blues, greens and greys. Her hair was already in a tight bun from when Hupsie had got her ready for departure this morning at her mother's insistence.

She looked jealously at Theo who was in a simple black 3-piece suit with a dark emerald vest which looked easy to move in, especially with his two-toned oxfords. Theo held out his arm to escort her - it was more there to prevent her from falling in her stupid heels - and she accepted, placing her hand in the crook of his elbow. As they left, she turned to Felix and told him to behave, but he was already fast asleep.

As they walked towards the ballroom, they could hear the faint hum of voices, suggesting that some people had already arrived. They opened the door and spotted Blaise, Daphne and Pansy already talking together in the centre of the room with Lord Greengrass, Astoria and Thalia's uncle speaking to the Dancing instructor. It was supposed to be everyone in their year group that was in their social group but Astoria had joined them to balance out the boys and girls. Theo led Thalia over to their friends where she was quickly swamped by Pansy, Daphne and Astoria who had joined them. As the girls started discussing who's dresses came from where and wondering what they'd be learning today - much to the distaste of Thalia - Theo and Blaise were talking in hushed whispers.

When the girls finally stopped gossiping, for lack of the better word, they suddenly noticed that Millie, Vince and Greg had arrived and that they were now only waiting for Draco.  
At this realisation, Thalia rolled her eyes, only to be pinched by her cousin who glanced at her and then his father in warning. Of course, Malfoy was the last one to arrive, Thalia thought, He's so dramatic, she wouldn't be surprised if he turned up with the Minister or Magic and a few of his albino peacocks.

Just as Lord Greengrass was finishing his in-depth conversation with her uncle, Hupsie opened the oak doors and announced the arrival of the Malfoys.

"I apologise for our tardiness, we were just in Diagon Alley getting Draco's school equipment and wand. No matter how much we hurried everyone, we were still made to wait whilst Madame Malkins sorted out this skinny little boy." Lucius Malfoy's tone was mildly annoyed; probably over the fact that they were made to wait like regular customers. Thalia wanted to roll her eyes again but thought that she'd draw too much attention to herself.

"There was also the fact that the Leaky Cauldron was full and buzzing with people. Apparently, that oaf of a gamekeeper had brought Harry Potter to do his shopping and that needed a fanfare. We couldn't get to the fireplace soon enough with all that nattering going on." Narcissa didn't seem angry at the fact that Harry, her cousin Harry, was going to Diagon Alley today. She mostly seemed in pain, with her eyes squinting at the smallest hint of light. It was then Thalia realised that Lucius wasn't annoyed at her cousin but at the fact that all the gossiping in that pub had left his wife with a headache.

Nonetheless, Thalia was still infuriated with her uncle. Draco had gone to Diagon Alley and possibly seen her cousin and he still made it in time for these stupid dance lessons. Why couldn't she have gone with her mother?

"We've made you wait long enough, we shall take our leave and allow you to start the dancing." With the grace of a thousand swans (that probably graced their gardens), the Malfoy lord and lady glided out of the room. Emmanuel then went and sat down at the small luncheon table that Hupsie had brought up for him and Madame Rosier, their dancing instructor. He preferred to watch the lessons, probably to see who worked best with his son and niece as well as to make sure they didn't mess up and 'disgrace' the Nott reputation. Thalia was certain if Theo messed up then he would be punished later on so she promised herself that if he made a mistake, she'd distract her uncle, how, she wasn't really sure.

"We will be reviewing your work on the waltz today." The waltz? They'd learnt the waltz at the start of the holiday. It seemed that everyone was disgruntled with this fact, with the exception of Daphne who truly loved dancing. However, it seemed that no one but Thalia was going to voice it.

"But we finished the waltz a month ago, why do we need to review it again?" Her question had brought the attention of her uncle but she hadn't realised as she was focused intently on Madame Rosier.

"It's best to revisit what we have learnt so we don't forget." Madame Rosier smiled at the girl, obviously trying to appease her but Thalia wasn't content. She'd got frustrated enough that she decided to test her luck on her uncle.

"First, you decline my mother's request to take me to see my cousin for the first time. Your argument was that I would miss my dance lesson yet Draco went to Diagon Alley and managed to get here in time for the lesson. Now I find out that this lesson isn't even important-" She was cut off when her face was hit with a heavy force, she fell to the ground where she kneeled frozen for a few seconds. Her cousin rushed over and cradled her face, making her flinch in pain. Her hair had mostly fallen out of the bun it was previously secured in, leaving her thick dark hair to cover her face. She looked up at where the blow had come from to see her uncle standing there with a red face.

"Don't question me again. Do you understand?" She looked down at her hand covered her inflamed cheek, ignoring her cousin who was trying to check it over.

"Yes, uncle." Her words were barely above a whisper but they seemed to appease her uncle who then turned to the rest of the room, all of them were stood in silence watching the scene in front of them. He apologised for the disruption before telling them to continue with the lesson. As he turned to sit down, Madame Rosier glanced at the still kneeling cousins before proceeding with what she was saying.

"As I was saying, we will be dancing in these pairs." With a wave of her wand, silver ribbons shot into the air to form names;

Daphne Greengrass - Blaise Zabini  
Millicent Bulstrode - Gregory Goyle  
Pansy Parkinson - Theodore Nott  
Thalia Nott - Draco Malfoy  
Astoria Greengrass - Vincent Crabbe

Thalia stood with the help of her cousin and walked slowly over to Draco. He turned to her a gave her a small smile, obviously trying to cheer her up without saying words. He gently took her right hand in his while placing his right hand on her back. Nobody spoke as they began dancing, keeping to the beat with Madame Rosier's continuous counting.

"One, two, three, four..." 

After she was sure that nobody was making any mistakes, Madame Rosie turned to the gramophone and began planning an orchestral piece that was, apparently, designed for the waltz.

"One, two, three, four..."

As Thalia and Draco danced around the room, she noticed that he would glance subtly towards her cheek that must have been beginning to swell.

"I'm sorry he hit you." This caused Thalia to look up from where she'd been hanging her head in shame.

"One, two, three, four..."

She looked him dead in the eyes, her brown eyes filled with confusion. "Why are you saying sorry? You did nothing."

"One, two, three, four..."

"Exactly, I could have at least tried to help you. I wish you weren't stuck dancing with me, you should be getting ice for your cheek, not dancing." As he whispered his opinion, Thalia's eyes grew wide in wonder. Did all the other families disagree with hitting their children?

"One, two, three, four..."

Seeing the question that was clearly spread over her face, Draco sighed and looked away from her cheek. He took a moment to raise their raised hand higher before murmuring.

"We get hit if we really mess up but never that violently. Especially not over something like that." He did think it was wrong! Maybe he could get his father to tell her uncle not to hit them.

"Could you get your father to tell my uncle to stop?"

"One, two, three, four..."

Draco shook his head slightly, not enough to draw attention to them.

"No. It's rude to interrupt family affairs unless there was something that made the person interrupting part of the family. That doesn't happen unless blood adoption occurs or a marriage contract was made." Understanding dawned on Thalia. There was nothing anyone could do, her parents couldn't even do anything because of that godforsaken contract.

"One, two, three, four..."

"So you're saying, I'd have to get my father to agree to a marriage contract before Theo and I even have a hope of not being hit?" Before Draco could answer, the symphony ended leaving the room too quiet for this form of conversation.

They let go of each other and stepped back when they realised how close they had been standing. Thalia could've cursed herself, they were standing too close to be seen as anything but people who liked each other romantically, even the whispering didn't help. She could already imagine her uncle rejoicing at the utter jackpot he had seen in front of him. She had no doubt that if Emmanuel was her father instead of her uncle, she would have been betrothed to Draco before the sunset today - that was if Lucius agreed of course. She could see the apology in the blonde's face as he looked at her - he obviously knew that he had accidentally caused a lot more problems for the girl.

"We can talk again next time," Draco whispered to her as he led her back to the others. She nodded subtly in agreement with the boy, all the while keeping her eyes focused on her uncle. He'd never hit her before and now she was hesitant as of how to act around him. Is this how Theo feels constantly?

Thalia dreaded the departure of the other children, she hated to think what her uncle would say to her about her behaviour. So, she watched in mild distress as the other children left the manor, Theo had his arm wrapped around her shoulder to comfort the girl but even he was tense.

Once the last child left, it was Blaise who had stayed to talk to Theo until his mother had to literally drag him away, the two cousins turned toward the lord of the manor. He was still talking to Madame Rosier but they knew better than to leave without his permission, apparently, Theo had learnt that on the business trip as well.

He spoke to the dancing instructor for another five minutes before dismissing her for the week. His gaze locked onto the two cousins who had waited in tense silence.

"Thalia, my darling, come here please." Theo squeezed her shoulders in reassurance before detaching himself from the trembling girl. Thalia slowly approached her uncle with carefully measured footsteps. As she reached him, she looked up at the man only to have him grab her chin and force her to look to her left so that he could observe her now swollen cheek.

"That was for disagreeing with me in public." He spoke in a lowered tone that sent shivers down Thalia's spine. He had drawled out his words in a way that made her believe that he wasn't finished.

She was right.

He abruptly let go of her chin and snatched her arm. He began dragging her out of the ballroom and towards her bedroom. However, he didn't let go of her once they'd reached her bedroom as she'd expected. Instead, he ordered Theo - who had been trailing closely behind them - to open her closet door. Once the door was open, her uncle practically threw her in, making her lose her balance and fall to the floor. He then stood menacingly at the doorway of the closet, glaring down at the girl.

"This is your punishment for speaking against me at all. You will stay in here until I let you out, do you understand?"

She looked down to where her hands were resting - her palms had carpet-burn from where she'd fallen - her messy hair hanging around her head. "Yes, uncle."

Just before he shut the door, Thalia looked up to see her cousin's face. The look of frustration and sadness was clear in his eyes, she worried that he was going to do something stupid so she slowly shook her head and tried to warn him to stay clear. As he did nothing, she believed that she had got the point across so she didn't fight or make a noise when the darkness consumed her.

She could hear her uncle saying a spell, most likely one that would lock her in the closet before footsteps faded away. It was obvious that Emmanuel hadn't allowed Theo to stay with her as he didn't come to comfort her.

Thalia had never been scared of the dark, nor small spaces the ominous silence and the lack of her sight made her feel like she was chocking on something as panic began to clog her throat. She shuffled to the door and began to claw at it, hoping that it would somehow open and she'd be able to breathe again.

After a while, she stopped and turned to face the rest of the closet, to try and calm herself down, she thought of happy memories - Theo and her racing on broomsticks in her garden, her parents dancing on New Year's Eve, her dad running up to her and lifting her in the air after her first summer with her uncle. When she opened her eyes, she gasped because in front of her there were little flames that were reenacting the scenes she remembered. She watched as her mother and she found a small herd of unicorns whilst on holiday, a little golden foal coming up to them to say hello. The girl didn't know how long she'd been locked in for but she began to drift off, watching as the little flames danced in a circle for the last time before disappearing just as she closed her eyes.

\---------

Meanwhile, Harry had just had the best birthday of his whole life. He couldn't believe that he was a wizard and that he was famous and that his parents hadn't died in a car crash.  
Hagrid had been so friendly and took to explaining everything about the wizarding world but Harry couldn't help but think that something was up.

*Flashback*

Harry had shaken hands with everyone in the pub, more than once for some and Hagrid had finally stepped in to say that it was time that they go. It was then that Harry saw her.

The woman looked to be in her late twenties, early thirties. It confused Harry for a second because when he first looked at her, he thought he was looking into a mirror - except that it was a magical mirror that showed what someone would look like if they were the other gender... and older. She couldn't have been much taller than him, five foot five at most, and she had the same messy styled jet black hair. The only real difference between them (aside from the gender and age) was that her eyes were brown. Also, the fact that she had tears in her eyes and looked as if she'd seen a ghost.

The woman didn't approach immediately, she waited until Hagrid had started talking to Tom, the barkeeper, before walking towards him. She began to unnerve him as she got closer, her mouth still opened in what seemed to be astonishment, at least Harry hoped it was astonishment, he had got quite good at reading people's moods and body language. When she finally reached him, she gave him a small smile before leaning towards him.

"Hi Harry, I know you probably don't know who I am if I knew Petunia correctly. I will explain everything later but I need you to take this so I can find you, okay?" She passed him a small bracelet that had a little 'P' on it. He nodded and looked down to put it on his thin wrist.

"It has protection and location spells. It's something the Potters used to keep an eye on where their children were. I promise I will explain everything I can later but just promise me that you will take everything Hagrid says with a pinch of salt. Please, Harry." Her words had made him look up. How did she know about the Potters? Who even was she? He studied her a moment, the look of sincerity made him believe her so he nodded and whispered his promise.

She left quickly afterwards, not letting Hagrid see her, but she also left plenty of questions stirring in his mind.

*End Flashback*

The interaction had occurred so fast that it had left Harry's head spinning. When she said she knew Petunia, his aunt Petunia, he was shocked. He was even more shocked when she mentioned his family, so he couldn't wait for her to come and see him. Her use of the word 'later' worried him, would it be today? Or next week? He didn't know and so he waited patiently, hoping that she would explain everything today.

A knock on number 4, Privet Drive's door left Harry running for it, only to be pushed aside by Aunt Petunia. As the thin woman answered the door, she gasped before trying to shut it again. Her actions were ruined when a foot was caught in the door, not allowing it to be shut.

"Tunie, aren't you going to let your guest in?" A voice sang from outside. Harry's heart leapt in his throat - it was her, the lady from the Leaky Cauldron.

"Your kind aren't welcomed here." Hissed Petunia, still trying to shut the door, foot be damned.

"Yes, well I worked that out by Harry's appearance." The lady's cold words made Petunia snapped her head round to look at Harry, her face pasty white. Her hold slackened on the door, allowing the stranger to push open the door and stroll in.

"Hi Harry, told you that I'd explain later." The stranger smiled at him and he gave a nervous smile back at her. This caused her to laugh loudly, causing Petunia to jump.

"You do look like James when you smile like that, he always did that smile when he got caught doing something wrong." This left Harry flabbergasted, she knew his dad?

"You knew my dad?" His question made her roll her eyes in annoyance but she still grinned at him.

"If Tunie did a better job, you would've known that I knew your dad better than anyone."

"Were you his best friend?" At this Petunia gave a shrill laugh from beside the door.

"Friend? This is your father's sister. The aunt that didn't want you." Her words cut Harry deeply but they seemed to anger the strange woman - or should he say his aunt. She turned to The taller woman and bore her teeth in a sort of savage grin.

"Ah sister-in-law, you love me really. Shall we take this into the lounge and sit down like civilised people. You can see, I took your need for normalcy into account and dressed like a muggle." Harry was impressed, not many people spoke to his aunt like that. Petunia also seemed shocked by her words but quickly nodded and with her lips pursed into a sharp line, she led the pair into her lounge.

The stranger beckoned Harry to sit next to her whilst Petunia sat in the armchair the other side of the room.

"Harry, let me introduce myself, I'm Charlotte Nott and I'm your father's twin sister. Although he was older by 6 minutes," She seemed to scowl at that small fact before she shook her head. "Any questions so far?"

Harry nodded. "If you're magical, why didn't I stay with you?" At this, Charlotte sighed.

"I knew you were going to ask that first, the answer is Dumbledore." How could Dumbledore prevent Harry from living with her? It seemed she realised that this would be his next question.

"After your parents were... killed, Dumbledore ordered Hagrid to bring you to Petunia's. However, your godfather and I were already at Godric's Hollow with you when he arrived. I wanted you to live with either your godfather or I but Hagrid and Dumbledore argued, they said that it was unsafe to live with me and Sirius had to go do something." She looked towards Petunia as if to tell her to carry on with the story.

"Charlotte had sent a letter after you arrived, saying that it would only be for a year or two, just until your world became less dangerous. But that didn't go to plan."

Charlotte continued. "Something happened which meant that Sirius wasn't able to look after you anymore," She hesitated, "And after a year I believe that it had calmed down enough that you could come live with me. The reason it is Dumbledore's fault that you are living here is that only he, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid knew where Petunia lived. Dumbledore wouldn't tell me where to come to find you and that the blood ward would prevent anyone from knowing where you lived until you reached 17."

Harry was silent. Hagrid had only spoken of how great Dumbledore was, not that he'd kept Harry away from a loving aunt. What even was a blood ward?

"What's a blood ward? Why did he not want me living with you? Why couldn't I live with you? What happened to Sirius?" The questions seemed to be never-ending and eventually, Charlotte placed a hand over his mouth to stop him.

"And breathe, Harrison." He sucked in a breathe and stayed silent, hoping that she'd answer his questions. Which she did.

"A blood ward is a piece of protection formed of runes that involve the blood of the person you are planning to protect. They only work if the person you are planning to protect shares similar blood to whom they are living with. Hence Petunia or I would've have been chosen." As she paused for a breath, Dudley came scurrying in, obviously, the talk of magic had spooked him away from his TV.

Harry's new aunt smiled and greeted the boy to which Dudley only whimpered and his hands moved towards his new pig's tail.

"As to why he didn't want you living with me, there are multiple reasons. The first is that my brother-in-law was a follower of the man who killed your parents, so Dumbledore thought he may try to kill you in the hopes that that brings his master back or my brother-in-law tried to manipulate you into fighting with Voldemort and against Dumbledore - I would've had never allowed it but he doesn't trust me since I married a Slytherin." She paused and waited to see if Harry had any questions.

"Aren't Slytherin's all evil?" His question made her snort, the noise obviously spooking Dudley who jumped into his mother's arms.

"Slytherins as a whole aren't evil, just a few of them are. Thanks to Dumbledore, they are often ostracized during their time at Hogwarts because he allows the other houses to belittle them. His blatant favouritism towards Gryffindor is shocking yet never been mentioned because he has the whole of the wizarding world eating out of his palm. For some reason, he has mixed up cunning ambition with evilness. He will try to manipulate you away from Slytherin by getting you to socialise with plenty of Gryffindors but you mustn't believe him."

Harry nodded. "Is that what you meant by 'take everything Hagrid says with a pinch of salt'?"

She smiled. "Yes, onto the second reason Dumbledore doesn't want you living with me, or even becoming friends with my daughter, is that we don't follow his every word. While I may be Gryffindor, I married a Slytherin and I'm pretty sure that I have raised a Slytherin as well."

Harry smiled at the mention of her daughter. "I have another cousin?" His question made Charlotte grin before rummaging around in her pockets.

She pulled out a photo of two children. As she showed it to him, he noticed that it moved and jumped back in shock.

"It moved!" She smiled before explaining that it was natural for wizarding photos to move.

The picture contained a little girl, even smaller than Harry, who looked identical to her mother except that she didn't have glasses. With an arm wrapped around the girl's shoulder, the blonde boy looked very aristocratic, with his hair styled into a fashionable wave, his tuxedo didn't have a hint of lint on it at all. The boy looked nothing alike to the girl, with bluish-grey eyes and a bigger build. He almost reminded Harry of the boy he'd met today in Diagon Alley - Draco Malfoy.

"The girls is your cousin, Thalia Euphemia Nott and next to her is her cousin on her father's side, Theodore Nott. You'll see them on the Hogwarts Express. Thalia was going to come and meet you today but her uncle demanded that she stayed for her dancing lesson." Charlotte rolled her eyes again, causing Harry to laugh before she looked towards Petunia, who had stayed particularly silent throughout.

"May I used magic in your home Petunia?" She asked politely which caused Petunia to blink at her. She sighed and gave Harry the photograph. When he went to protest, she quickly shh'd him.

"I've got the real version at home. Anyhow," She looked the clock on the mantelpiece, "I'm afraid that that is all I have time for, I will be sure to contact you our way. Don't worry Petunia, I won't send an owl during the day and I won't visit again. I am aiming to manoeuvre the blood ward over to me so he can come live at my house but that may take time." She rose, leaving Harry on the sofa by himself.

"I can fix your son's tail if you so wish?" She raised an eyebrow in question towards the blonde lady, who hesitated before looking at Dudley. The large boy slowly nodded, looking cautiously at the woman he didn't know.

"Is there a room where we can go that had no windows? I know you'd prefer your neighbours not to be able to do anything." With that, all of them but Harry left the lounge and minutes later, Charlotte Nott left the house. She left Harry with slightly fewer questions and a moving picture of a girl that could be his twin.


	4. Chapter 3

1st of September 1991.

Thalia was so glad that it was the first of September. Not just because she got to see her parents after two long months away at her uncle's manor, but also because today would be the day she met her cousin for the first time. After her mother had met him and explain the situation to the boy, she'd sent a detailed letter to Thalia explaining what had happened, how he looked far too thin in comparison to Dudley Dursley. She'd been informed by her mother that Harrison had a photograph of Theodore and her from recently so that he'd know who to look for when on the train.

Whilst Thalia was excited, Theodore was nervous. As they had entered platform nine and three quarters, his father had pulled him to the side and introduced him to all the prefects in Slytherin; telling Theo that they would be sending regular letters to his father about himself and Thalia, so there would be no privacy away from home. Theodore was angry at his father but knew better than to say anything, fortunately for him, all his bruises had faded enough that they didn't ache when he moved. Still, he dreaded his aunt's infamous hug of death that he most likely was going to receive shortly.

What Theo dreaded most wasn't the reports that this father was going to receive about him, but the reports about his cousin. When around his father, Thalia was meek and obedient - only speaking out when extremely furious. However, when she wasn't under her uncle's thumb, she was a wild child. She would climb trees, ride horses at an unladylike pace as well as not caring about her appearance. If it wasn't for her family's insistence, Theo was sure that she would not even bother to brush her hair. He worried that she would forget to take precautions around boys and end up either in an unwanted betrothal or in her closet for her longest time yet. He knew that he was going to have to warn all of his friends, he knew that Blaise and Draco would keep their distance and Daphne and Pansy could lead her away from making too many rash decisions out of anger.

He shook his head as his father began talking to Thalia and him.

"Now, I hope you behave yourselves and make sure not to disgrace the name of Nott while you are at Hogwarts," He abruptly stopped what he was about to say as his younger brother came back from putting their luggage on the train.

"Thalie, Theo, come here for a hug! Your mother just went to wait at the entrance of the station to help Harry to get on the train. He told us that Hagrid hadn't mentioned how to get on the platform," Her father rolled his eyes as he sighed dramatically causing her uncle to stare at him with undisguised disgust at his blatant lack of manners. At least there are no closets around for him to go in thought Thalia as she glanced between the Nott gentlemen in a barely masked worry. Theodore had obviously noticed her tense reaction to the eye roll and subtly held her hand in comfort as he tried to continue the conversation quickly.

"Why would he not tell Harrison how to get onto the platform, uncle?" Ezekiel Nott looked around before leaning forward, towards his daughter and nephew.

"Because Dumbledore probably has a Gryffindor family waiting to help him through to the platform who will spout a load more rubbish about how all Slytherins are evil while Gryffindors are gods." Thalia laughed at his analogy before frowning at the thought that she was to spend nearly nine months with an old manipulative man who could easily read her mind. Her eyes widened at the thought and she gasped causing all the men of the family to look over to her.

"What is the matter, my darling?"

"What's wrong, princess?" Both brothers spoke at the same time causing them to look at each other before looking back at the panicked girl.

"What if Dumbledore uses legilimency on us?" The question made the two adults look at each other again. This time, however, they were in agreement.

"Princess, you shouldn't be too worried about it, I'm sure he won't do that. Nevertheless, if you wish to protect yourself from it, we can teach you and Theo occulmency next summer holiday so you would be able to tell if he was." The cousins agreed in unison.

"Yes please!"

Her uncle frowned before looking at the two children. "The easiest way to stop him is to avoid eye contact with him. Understood?"

"Yes, uncle."

"Yes, father." He nodded his head in approval before turning away from his family and walking away.

"I'm going to talk to some work colleagues, I will be back before 11'o'clock." With that, the eldest Nott disappeared into the crowds, leaving the remaining family members to watch him go, mouths slightly open at his sudden departure.

"Thalia, Theo," The two mentioned turned to where their names where being exclaimed from, only to see Draco, Blaise and Pansy to rushing over to them with large grins on their faces. The boys collided into Theo, thankfully mistaking his flinch and not seeing pain flash across his face, causing a mass hug in which Ezekiel joined in, much to everyone's laughter.

Pansy had hugged Thalia a bit more sedately - more like throwing an arm around her shoulder in comparison to the boys trying to squeeze the life out of her cousin like a python.

"We've got our job cut out looking after them this year haven't we?" Questioned Pansy causing Thalia to laugh loudly.

"I've also got to look after my cousin, Harry, according to my mum, he has the same glint of mischief in his eyes as my uncle did whenever he was pranking someone." At the mention of her deceased uncle, her smile fell. Pansy noticed and was about to try and cheer her up when they were promptly squished by Daphne who had jumped on both of their backs.

"Daph! You nearly killed us." Exclaimed Pansy causing Daphne to scoff.

"Please," She scoffed again, causing Thalia to glance around in case her uncle saw. "It'd take more to kill you both hopefully."

I should hope you weren't planning to kill them just before we got to Hogwarts Daph." Interrupted Draco as he sidled up to the girls, hugging them each individually. His hair had been slicked back into his normal horrid style that made Thalia want to muss it up. It was obvious that he was being cautious around her, not getting too close when he hugged her and making sure to stand a big enough distance that he wasn't in her space.

They all began talking about what they thought that Hogwarts would be like - all their parents had only good words to say about it, with the exception of the headmaster. They all declared that they'd be in Slytherin with the exception of Thalia. While her father had been in Slytherin, her mother had been in Gryffindor and most Potters were either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw so she didn't know where she'd go. She was fearful that if she didn't go into Slytherin, her uncle would be furious with her while her parents would be supportive.  
But as the clock crept closer to 11'o'clock, each child was called away to say their final goodbyes to their parents, leaving Thalia and Theo alone; wondering where their fathers had gone. As it neared 10:55 am, they began to wonder whether they should just get onto the train but as they started to walk towards it they heard their names shouted by a feminine voice.

"Thalia! Theo!" As if a repeat of their earlier actions, they turned in unison to where they'd been called. Walking briskly towards them was Charlotte Nott; still in her muggle outfit, her hair tied up in a ponytail to try and control it. She held out her arms and, without hesitation, they rushed forward in a hug. They were promptly crushed before being let go as she began to usher them toward the scarlet train.

"Theo, your father had to leave suddenly, something came up in the ministry and Wizengamot members were asked to go to the ministry quickly. He said that he would expect an owl from you both tonight and will send one back once he's received his letters." Theo nodded in understanding and to most, it looked like he was sad that his father wasn't there to say goodbye, but as a matter of fact, Theo felt ecstatic. He wouldn't receive any more threats or punishments from his father.

"Thalia, your father had to go with him but he says that he loves you so much and he will see you at Christmas, okay? We'll obviously be in touch before then. He also made a comment that he's bet five galleons that you will be in Slytherin, he also mentioned that he would share that with you if you become a Slytherin." They all laughed at that before Charlotte swore and pushed them onto the train.

"I love you both so much and I don't care what houses you are in. Harry is on the train already, I made sure that he wasn't going to miss it but I think Dumbledore sent the Weasleys to help him through the barrier as we saw them there." It looked as if she was going to say more but she shook her head. Obviously, they didn't have enough time for a full discussion of all the events.

The train conductor shut the door as soon as they were safely in and the train started to pull away from the station. Thalia and Theo waved at the last Nott member that was on the platform until the station was long out of sight.

Theo sighed. "Let's go find our friends and wherever your father put our luggage." Thalia nodded, she then winced as if expecting to be pinched or grabbed. Theo worried about his little cousin - while he had a move physical punishment, her's was more mental. Merlin's beard, she couldn't even step into her own closet anymore and that was after only two months, she still had three more summer holidays at his house before his father tried to successfully marry her off to some pureblood that didn't deserve her nor care for her.

They trailed down the corridor of the grand train in silence, both engrossed in their thoughts, only really looking up when they looked into compartments for their childhood friends. As Thalia was behind Theo, she walked into his back when he froze - his head staring straight ahead and his posture perfect.

"'Dor, what are you doing? What's happening?" Thalia tried to look over her cousin's shoulder but he was slightly too tall and her uncle had drilled it into her - quite forcefully - that a lady never jumps.

"Theodore and Thalia, shouldn't you be with your friends?" The deep voice sneered towards the end causing Thalia to frown.

"We are now on our way to find them, Marcus." Her cousin's cold voice worried Thalia, how did he know this Marcus?

"Well then, I know where they are as the Slytherin Prefect, I'm sure I could escort Thalia and show you two where they are."

Thalia closed her eyes at the situation they were stuck in. She couldn't say no, otherwise her uncle would somehow find out. But Theo seemed on the verge of fighting this random stranger and Thalia didn't know why - this concerned her more than anything.

She gently pushed her cousin to the side and saw the boy who she was supposed to let escort her. His teeth were all crooked and his jet black hair was spiked up in an obviously fake way. The worst part of him was his eyes - they had a gleam in them when she looked at them that made her want to get away from him.

However, for her cousin's and her own benefit, she couldn't decline the offer, so, she sucked in a breath of air, smiled daintily and graciously accepted his offer. She placed her hand on the crook of his elbow and maintained the appropriate distance from him. Yet, he pulled her closer than what was deemed appropriate almost immediately under the guise of "it's a very tight corridor and he wouldn't want to push or pull her."

She felt even more uncomfortable when he placed a hand over her own, holding her there with a tight grip. She could feel Theo get more and more pissed off with every leer that Marcus sent her way - she was sure her face had either gone pasty white in panic or red in anger.

She found out that it was red when Marcus leaned over and whispered in her ear, "You look cute when you blush."

She tried to pull away after that, set on getting as far away from this creep as possible. Despite her best efforts to relinquish his grip on her, his hand stayed firmly on her own, locking her to him. He grinned as she tried to squirm away from him before his expression went dark.

"You know your uncle has ordered all of the Slytherin Prefects to send him weekly letters about your behaviour. It would be a shame if his first letter was bad. I'm sure if I tell him how you were punching and kicking me whilst making a scene as I tried to politely escort you, he might even let me decide the punishment at your blatant disrespect towards me." His words were loud enough that Theodore could hear him and they had the required effect on both of the cousins - Thalia went pale and stopped struggling and Theodore went completely silent.

He continued to look the younger girl over when he was escorting her, leaving Thalia to near tears as there was nothing she could do to stop him. She only had three years of this before he left and she was free from his perverse stares.

Once they finally reached the compartment containing all of their friends, the cousins released sighs in synchronisation. But Marcus did not release Thalia from his grip, instead, he lent forward.

"Were you never taught what to do to thank a gentleman who has escorted you somewhere?" Thalia did but she grit her teeth at the thought of kissing the troll's cheek. At the same time, she feared her uncle's wrath more than kissing this 15-year-old creep's cheek leaving her to smile at him - too large to be natural - and gave him a mere brush with her lips on his horrible cheeks.

He smirked at her, bowed then left, leaving the two cousins to face their friends who had watched everything from inside the compartment. Thalia rushed towards Pansy and Daphne who hugged her between themselves, nodding at her in understood sympathy. Meanwhile, the boys had gathered around a fuming Theodore Nott.

"My father," Theo spit through gritted teeth. "Has ordered all the Slytherin Prefects to watch Lia and I and report back to him about anything. Marcus Flint seems to have got it in his head that that means he can get Thalia and me to do whatever he wants so he doesn't go making up stories to my father." The boy's nose flared at the memory of Flint getting too close to his baby cousin. Draco scowled whilst Blaise looked thoughtful. Vincent and Greg looked upset as they observed at the young girl who was huddled up between the girls with Millie giving her cat to hold for comfort.

"I have an idea," Blaise's comment got everyone's attention, even Thalia's, whose eyes peeked over the top of Millie's cat. "He can't escort Thalia if someone already is." Everyone nodded and began to smile at the idea. Except for Theo.

"I can't escort her continuously, my father will be furious, and if one of you guys escorted her, then my father will get ideas about betrothals." The light that had been in Thalia's eyes from Blaise's words, dimmed immediately.

"What if, we all escorted her the same amount of times per day. Then she isn't showing favour towards any of us. We just have to get to her before him." Draco's words made Thalia lift her head up.

"But surely my uncle would suspect something, I mean, Marcus would tell him."

"Not if you accepted the escort of other boys that you got along with, I'm sure Harry would help with that." At the mention of Harry, Theo groaned internally, now Thalia would want to go find him.

He was right.

"Oh! I forgot to go look for him," She began to stand up only to be pushed back down again by her cousin. "What was that for Theo?"

"We don't know whether Marcus is still out there. You can't go just yet." He winced as he said that, her eyes throwing daggers at his head.

"You can't tell me what to do cousin." With that, she began standing back up, only to be shoved back down again. She shot him another annoyed look before pulling out her wand - it was only 10.5 inches, cocobolo wood and a core made of a chimaera scale, an unusual type of core for Olivander but he thought that it suited her down to the ground. "If you try and stop me again cousin, I will hex you."

Theo was about to retort when he was interrupted by Draco's slow drawl.

"I'll escort her if you want, we can take Vince and Greg just to be safe." Theo and Thalia huffed - his was because he was cut off and hers because Draco was asking her cousin instead of her, who he was planning to escort. But she kept quietly simply because she wanted to find her cousin.

"Fine." Before her cousin could say any conditions to his agreement, Thalia rushed out of the compartment, dragging Vince and Greg. She realised that she'd forgotten Draco in her excitement and waited impatiently for him to get up - which, if she had her say, he took extra long. Once he leisurely left the compartment, he offered his arm to her which she took hesitantly, her memories from only a short time ago rising to the centre of her brain again.

He seemed to notice her reluctance as he smiled gently at her, nothing like Marcus's - no - Flint's leer. As he wasn't as large as Flint, they could easily walk beside each other without breaching either person's personal space. Vince and Greg were chatting while walking behind them but Draco and Thalia stayed relatively quiet as they peered into different compartments, they weren't 100% sure what Harry looked like but her mum had described him to her quickly in her letter when they first met.

Thalia knew he would have a shorter version of her hair, circular glasses with a wire frame, vivid green eyes and would most likely be wearing baggy clothing that hung of his small frame.

Still, coming face to face with the boy she'd been dying to meet since she was first told about him seem scary. As they spotted who they thought was Harry, she panicked and hid behind Vince and Greg. Draco sighed before entering the compartment with the two larger boys following him, hiding Thalia behind them.

"Is it true? What they're saying all down the train that Harry Potter is in this compartment?"

Harry looked at the boy in interest, why did he care? He wasn't interested who he was in Diagon Alley.

"Yes." The boy sighed in relief before smiling at Harry.

"Thank Merlin, we've been looking for a while now. This is Crabbe and Goyle," The pale boy pointed to the thickset boys. "I'm Draco Malfoy and this is..." He trailed off as he moved to the side, the two boys behind him doing the same, to reveal a girl that Harry recognised instantly. He'd stared at her photo for hours, watching as she waved at him and laughed with her other cousin who was next to her in the picture. Thalia Nott.

She grinned shyly, her cheeks going pink. "Hey Harry, do you prefer Harry or Harrison? I don't to be calling you anything that you don't want."

Harry smiled at the girl and gestured for her to sit down next to him, not noticing Ron's glare of disgust at all of the newly arrived members.

"Thalia, we'll be waiting outside," Draco said as he glanced at the ginger. "just shout if you need anything." Harry's cousin smiled and said her thanks to the blonde boy who left with the other boys.

"Harry is just fine, I think your mum is the only person to call me by my full name." They smiled at each other before Ron coughed to get their attention.

"Harry, have you met her or her mum before?" Thalia noticed the look of distrust he threw her, luckily, so did Harry.

He frowned at his new friend. "Yeah, my aunt came to visit me on my birthday, she explained who she was -" Ron cut him off.

"Did she say that she was married to a Death Eater, he's one of You-know-who's supporters. The whole family is evil." Thalia glared at him with such ferocity that Ron avoided looking at her, but even Harry was glaring at him. Ron suddenly realised that he made a major slip up insulting Harry's family.

"One, Ronald Weasley, my father worked with the Order of the Phoneix during the wizarding war, he wasn't an - excuse my language - arse licker of Dumbledore's, unlike your family. After the wrongful imprisonment of a close family friend, who Dumbledore helped imprison, we lost even more faith in him. He didn't believe my father because he was a Slytherin and he didn't trust my mother enough to look after Harry. He hid Harry from my family! But because the whole of the wizarding world thinks the sun shines out of his arse, my mother couldn't argue against him. So no, my family is not all evil."

Ron looked as if he was about to retort but Thalia wouldn't let him.

"My family is no worse than yours. A few of my family members were staunch supporters to Voldy but the rest of us don't agree. We are not prejudiced against muggleborns, we simply believe that they should either be told sooner or removed from their situations because many parents don't understand what is wrong with their child and put it through hell. Most people want to protect those children and keep the wizarding world a secret. Whilst your family breeds like rabbits, some families would be wiped out if another mass witch hunt breaks out again."

Harry was amazed but the amount of knowledge that his cousin was saying. That was, until she turned to him, a fire still blazing in her dark brown eyes.

"You need to be careful when making friends. Make sure you have similarities that you can talk about. As you're new to the wizarding world, you're like a baby." He looked offended at that. "I meant that you don't have an impression on anything so you believe the first thing you're told. Some people -" She glared at Ron who looked down guiltily. " - will take advantage of that fact. Including adults." She stood up and moved towards the doors. When she looked behind, both boys were staring at her - one in anger, the other in awe. She smirked as she called out to Harry.

"Want to come and meet Theo?" Harry nodded immediately, showing that he obviously remembered her cousin's name. Ron wasn't having any of it though.

He grabbed Harry's arm. "You can't leave, they're all going to be Slytherin, they're all going to be evil! They are horrible and bullies." Harry shook him off in repugnance.

"The only judgemental bully I've seen so far is you." With that, he left with his cousin, leaving behind a ginger who was throwing a temper tantrum shouting "You're supposed to be my friend!"

Harry shook his head as he walked away. "I can't believe he was so judgemental and only friends with me because of my fame." Thalia stopped when they were a little while down the corridor - Draco and Vince and Greg having gone ahead.

"If they start off by asking about your scar or Voldy and they seem so curious about it that they are verging on rude, then they will most likely be friends with you because of your fame."

Harry nodded, silently agreeing with her. He watched as she glanced around nervously after seeing him nod his head.

"What? What's the matter?" She jumped when he asked that.

"Huh? Oh nothing, don't worry." She began walking again but he grabbed her by her bicep which caused her to tense immediately.

"Please don't touch me." Harry studied her more warily as she whispered that, it was almost as if she was scared to tell him not to touch her. Just as he was about to question her in more depth, he heard his name being called.

"Harry!" It was two voice in perfect unison which instantly made Harry realise who it was. As the two cousins turned to face a ginger pair of identical twins, Harry smiled.

"Fred, George, how are you guys?" Harry tried to make casual conversation, hoping that they hadn't spoken to Ron.

It wasn't his lucky day.

"Oh you know, just a little headache from Ronnikins who was complaining that you'd left him alone to go to the dark side, blah blah blah."

"The usual spoilt brat behaviour."

"Mother really did ruin him by giving him everything he wants."

"Such a shame."

"He could've turned out as perfect as us."

Thalia laughed at the twins' comments. "So he's the anomaly in your family?"

"Yes."

"Well, I think Percy is as well."

"Oh yeah, and Ginny is a little bit of a brat."

"But other than that."

"Actually, she might not get along with our mum."

"Oh yeah. Good point."

"So it's about a fifty-fifty split?"

"Roundabout."

Harry and Thalia felt as if they were watching a tennis match as they went back and forth between the two. When the two finally stopped, Thalia interrupted.

"I don't suppose you could do us a favour."

"Depends."

"What's in it for us?"

"I would owe you a favour, anything."

"Anything?"

Thalia gulped. "I get the final word if I say no, then I will still owe you the favour."

"Sounds good enough."

"What's the favour?"

"I don't suppose you could grab Hedwig and Harry's luggage from his old compartment, I would go in there and use magic but I don't feel like getting shouted at by your little brother."

"Of course, you go back to your compartment, we'll find you."

"Thank you." The cousins said in unison causing the four of them to blink in shock.

"Are you sure you're not twins?"

"Pretty sure." Thalia grabbed Harry and began walking away. "You know, you two would've been brilliant Slytherins." To which the twins just laughed and winked at the girl while walking in the opposite direction.

As they were walking back to Thalia's original compartment, Harry felt Thalia freeze. He looked towards her and then to what - or better yet, who - she was looking at.

"Harry I need you to stick your arm out slightly so I can place my hand on your elbow."

"Why?"

"Just do it." Thalia practically hissed her words so Harry complied. She placed her hand in the crook of his elbow and whispered a quick "Thank you." before they were descended upon.

"Ah! Thalia, fancy seeing you here again." Marcus Flint shook his head in mock amazement.

"Well, Marcus, it is nearly an eight-hour train ride, we are only about four hours in." Harry became nervous at sight of the elder boy, glaring at him while leering at his cousin.

"Are you just on your way back to your compartment? May I escort you back?"

Thalia tightened her grip on Harry's arm while smiling tightly at Flint. "Unfortunately, my cousin has already offered to escort me and it is rude to leave me halfway through." This brought the fifth year student to look over at Harry. He squinted at him before turning back to Thalia.

"Unless Theo has spelled his hair black and shrunk slightly, this isn't your cousin."

"Actually," Harry interrupted, coming to his cousin's aid. "I'm her cousin from her mother's side, Harry Potter." At his name, Flint narrowed his eyes before he breathed deeply out of his nose.

"Well played Thalia. Your uncle never said your other cousin could deny suitors." With that, he left quickly - still too slowly for Thalia and Harry as he kept looking Thalia up and down.

"What was that all about?" Harry questioned with wide eyes.

His cousin sighed, rubbing her face. "That is pureblood society."

"What do you mean?"

"My mother has already explained that my uncle is not the best of men. He's a staunch believer in pureblood traditions; you know, the girl gets escorted places by a man - either family or a suitor. The suitor is a potential husband and if the parents of both parties find them suitable, or the girl attractive enough, or the other has a lot of money or social standing, then a betrothal contract is made. This means that as soon as both parties come of age then they are married. It's magically binding so you can only break the contract if both parties agree, if not you lose your magic."

"Why do you do that? What's the point?" Thalia could tell that Harry was confused so she tried to explain it in the simplest way possible.

"It's too ensure that the heirs of the family have a secure future and the family name continues. It's also to prevent your child from eloping with someone else so you have complete control of their life."

"But how does that guy - Flint? - come into all this?"

Thalia hesitated - How much should she tell him? " My uncle is very traditional but Theo isn't. He doesn't want me to marry a boy that wants me just because of my looks or name. My uncle knows this so has told all the Slytherin Prefects to make sure Theo is deterring any suitors away."

"So that's what Flint meant when he said well played for getting me involved? Because your uncle can't control me but I still can tell suitors no."

"Precisely. Flint has also got it in his head that he can manipulate me by threating to send lies to my uncle unless I do what he tells me to." Harry became furious at that - so much so that his magic was causing the light to flicker in the corridor. Just as Thalia was about to tell him to calm down, Daphne popped her head out of their compartment and called them to her.

"Nott, Potter, hurry up! You've been gone ages." If Harry knew what love felt like, he would've fallen in love there and then; her honey blonde hair that dangled down as she tilted her head to the side, her blue eyes sparkling with content, her lips curled up into a smile. He felt as if he'd never seen a girl properly before.

"Alright Greengrass, now coming."

As they entered the compartment Harry was introduced to a girl with short dark brunette hair that was cut into a straight bob - Pansy Parkinson. A shy girl that seemed to hide behind her cat, she was obviously a bigger build than the other girls in here and had thick mousy brown hair that reached her shoulders - Millie Bulstrode. There was Draco Malfoy, Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe, Daphne Greengrass and Thalia who he'd been introduced to. The last two were possibly the tallest boys in here, one Harry recognised from the photo - Theodore Nott. And the other was introduced as Blaise Zabini - Harry was jealous to say that at 11 years old, Zabini could rock a suit well.

"What took you so long? Draco said you were just behind him."

Thalia waved off her cousin's concern. "Don't worry, we bumped into the Weasely twins and got them to do a favour for me."

"We also met Flint." Harry watched as everyone tensed as he mentioned the boy's name, all the boys had a look of anger on their faces whilst the girls had looks of sympathy - with the exception of Daphne who seemed to look as equally as mad as the boys.

"When were you going to mention this, cousin?" Theodore's voice was cold as he spoke to his younger cousin.

Again, Thalia waved off his anger. "Don't worry, Harry and I dealt with him, he left us alone."

Everyone deflated at that news and everything seemed quiet before Blaise offered a game of something called exploding snap. It seemed that everyone was eager to teach Harry which the exceptions of Greg, Vince, Millie and Draco. Greg and Vince because they found the game extremely difficult to focus on. Millie because she was soothing her cat who didn't like the explosions and Draco who was worrying over his arm that was covered in scratch marks from said cat.


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I'm terrible at updating? Thank you for your patience in waiting and thank you to everyone who has commented, bookmarked or left kudos! Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 5

They stopped playing exploding snap after Greg lose his eyebrows as they had to spend the next hour looking through their books, trying to figure out a way to regrow his eyebrows before they reached Hogwarts. Luckily for Greg, Draco and Blaise had had a formal tutor to teach them the basics before they reached Hogwarts - a way to make sure they didn't disgrace the family name with their appalling wand work - meaning that once Theo had found the spell, they were able to perform it with relative success, even if Greg had one eyebrow slightly hairier than the other.

They spent the rest of the time, talking to Harry. Harry had only come to realise that most families didn't hit their children after he'd told them a story about his Uncle Vernon hitting him after Harry had somehow made his hair grow overnight.

"That's horrible!" Pansy exclaimed as Daphne nodded in agreement. Both their faces were plastered with distraught at the thought of being hit for something out of your control, something as innocent as growing your hair back. Greg and Vincent had grimaces while hugging Millie who had begun crying at the fact that he'd got hit. Even Draco had reacted, even if it was in a very negative way.

He'd stood up and began shouting, "This is why mudbloods shouldn't have magic, they'll reveal it to evil disgusting muggles and they'll try and kill us all." His comment caused Blaise's head to snap up.

"Draco..." He spoke in a low warning tone, trying to avoid conflict.

"No Blaise, muggles are horrible. They try and destroy things what they don't understand or can't have! I'm telling you now if that muggle loving fool of a headmaster had his way, muggles would be burning us at the stake or ruling superior to us."

Thalia had obviously had enough at that point. Why she and Theodore had stayed quiet for so long Harry didn't know.

"Draco, stop." The platinum blonde spun around to face her - his face aghast at her blatant disagreement, although he quickly covered it much to Harry's confusion.

"Stop? I'm telling the truth. Muggles are disgusting and cruel. The mudbloods they allow at this school are just like them." Harry butt in at that point, getting quite annoyed at the blonde.

"Not all muggles are bad and their children aren't going to out the wizarding world."

Draco turned to him, anger sparked in his eyes at having nobody agree with him.

"From what you've told me as well as other people's stories, all muggles are evil." He hissed almost as if he was a snake, his mouth curled into a sneer. Harry shook his head and laughed, causing Draco to stop short.

"Malfoy, you're taking other people's opinion and believing them to be facts. It doesn't work like that. Besides, not all muggles are bad-" Harry was cut off before he could continue.

"Potter, stop repeating yourself. You say that not all muggles are bad but look at your family." Harry lept up, his emerald eyes blazing with anger. Theo and Blaise were watching carefully in case they had to intervene while Thalia had her wand at the ready.

"First off, Malfoy, I'm not the one who has said muggles are evil or any other abjective around five times so sit down you hypocrite. Secondly, I have met plenty of muggles who are good and caring. For example, my teacher in year 3 noticed that I was extremely malnourished, especially in comparison to my muggle cousin. She tried for about a month, contacting my aunt and uncle but stopped as soon as she noticed I was becoming even skinnier from starving as I was locked in the cupboard under the stairs. Instead, she turned to the other teachers, trying to persuade them to also get involved. She tried to get the authorities involved but suddenly stopped and a week later she left my school." Harry's eyes prickled as he was on the verge of tears at the thought of Ms Tompson.

It became quiet after his story. Draco looked down before retaking his seat while Theo and Blaise waited on bated breath for a few seconds longer before coping him, leaving Harry as the only one standing. He looked over at his cousin to see she also had tears in her eyes that matched his perfectly. He reached forward to comfort her but she shook her head, he recoiled quickly, wondering why she didn't want his comfort before he realised that she didn't want any more attention on her. He sat next to Daphne and she patted his hand with a warm smile before returning to the conversation Pansy just started.

They sat quietly for a few more moments before Draco got up abruptly, leaving everyone to glance over at him wearily.

"I'm going to see some family friends." They all sighed in relief when he didn't begin another argument, causing him to roll his eyes. Harry noticed that when the blonde rolled his eyes, his cousin tensed and began searching around the room for something.

"I'll follow you." Blaise stood and began to follow the other boy out of the compartment, leaving the rest to observe their retreating backs in wonder.

It was nearly 45 minutes before the pair returned and when they did, Thalia noticed that they both looked frustrated. She was about to speak when Blaise cut her off.

"We're nearly there so we need to get changed." The girls began to stand up, think that because there was less of them that they would leave to the toilets to get changed. However, all the boys refused to move the girls and as they gathered their robes, they ignored all forms of protest.

As they left, Pansy quickly shut the blinds of the compartment door and locked it before turning to face the other girls in here.

"So, now that the boys are away, the girls can finally have a proper conversation," She grinned at them then turned to the luggage rack. As she was the second shortest girl, she had to wait for Daphne and Millie to pass their bags down.

"What's the first on the agenda?" Questioned Thalia with a wry smile growing on her face as she held Millie's cat tightly to avoid him from getting squished. "Please be careful with my bag, Felix is in there."

Millie gently lowered her bag down, making sure that Thalia had a hold on it before letting it go.

"I think we should talk about Harry looked like he'd gone to heaven when he saw Daphne the whole time." Pansy's comment caused the desired effect - Daphne's clear skin bloomed red while Millie and Thalia laughed loudly.

"Oh yes, it must the blonde hair and the glowing halo." Joked Thalia causing all of them to burst into giggles, Daphne included.

"Do you like him, Daphne?" Questioned Millie sweetly as she was digging through her bag for her robes. Pansy and Thalia glanced up and waited for the blonde girl to answer, she seemed to hesitate as a blush spread from her neck.

"You do!" Exclaimed Thalia excitedly as she began to bounce up and down on the seats, holding Felix and her robes in her hands. Pansy joined her as they jumped across to the other side of the compartment's seats and back. Millie grabbed her cat and held him to her chest tightly when Pansy nearly squished him, she didn't seem mad if her grin was any indication.

"Fine, I like him!" Daphne shouted with a shy smile on her face as she looked nervously down at her feet. "It's not like we can get together anyway, my father would never allow it for one." The girls calmed down at the statement.

"Surely, even if you're unlikely to marry him, you can still enjoy the time you have together at Hogwarts?" Thalia asked softly causing Daphne to perk up as she thought about it. Unfortunately, she suddenly deflated again.

"What if he's in Gryffindor?" Her question made Thalia pause. What would happen if Harry was in Gryffindor? Would he leave them in the dust and become Dumbledore's puppet. No, he wouldn't do that to us, to me. But what would happen if he was in Slytherin? There were still quite a few Voldy supporters, would they try anything during school?

"What do you think would happen if he was in Slytherin? You've heard his stories, he's cunning enough to be a Slytherin. Just like he's brave enough to be a Gryffindor."  
Pansy stopped, looking thoughtful for a second. "I think you should tell him to not let the sorting hat put him in Slytherin. There'd be no telling what the Slytherins like Marcus would do to him if he was at their mercy. At least in Gryffindor, he could escape them for a little while, even if that does put him in close proximity to Dumbledore's pets."  
Thalia nodded, agreeing to Pansy's points. "At least in Gryffindor, he could make friends without worrying that their parents were loyal to Voldy." Pansy and Daphne looked aghast at her name for the Dark Lord but luckily didn't mention anything. Their conversation came to a sudden end as there was a knock on the door followed by a lazy drawl.

"Are you girls decent or have you spent all this time gossiping?" Challenged Draco causing Thalia to laugh while the other girls huffed at the insult.

"We were scheming our plans for attack actually, don't worry, you weren't discussed, we only talked about valuable people." Quipped Thalia as she opened the blind and unlocked the door.

Draco rushed in and lifted the small girl over his shoulders and spun her around quickly.

"Not valuable, huh? I bet you couldn't even handle me." He stopped after a while and the dizzy girl saw why as she stumbled into her two cousins, both of which were scowling at the Malfoy heir as if he'd just threatened to kidnap her.

"We're at the station cousin so you might want to put Felix into your bag." Theo's cold voice reminded Thalia so much of her uncle that she flinched, causing Theo to frown softly, his eyes filling with understanding and pain.

"Who's Felix?" Inquired Harry, causing whatever tension there was, to vanish. Thalia rushed to his side and promptly showed him a drowsy Felix.

"He's a miniature mooncalf that is my little companion. My uncle and parents don't know about him yet so you can't tell my mum, okay?" Harry never would've thought that a girl's voice could go from cheerful to wary in just a single sentence. But here was his cousin, breaking down his assumption about girls, one by one.

"I promise I won't tell anyone." His promise caused a large smile to form on his older cousin's face.

"Shall we get going then or are we going to stand here all evening?" Blaise's question caused everyone to hurry out of their little compartment, Thalia tucking Felix into her pocket before grabbing Harry and Theo's hands as not to lose them.

They got off of the scarlet train and promptly headed towards a large man who Harry identified as Hagrid who was shouting for the first years.

He said hello to Harry happily but his smile dimmed when he noticed that Harry wasn't surrounded by would-be Gryffindors. Ever polite (more likely, just to spite him) Thalia greeted the large man and introduced herself to him in a warm voice with a sharp undertone.

"Hello Hagrid, I'm Thalia Nott, Charlotte Nott's daughter and Theodore Nott's and Harry Potter's cousin." She smiled, baring all her teeth at him only to be pulled away from him by her two cousins.

"I can't take you anywhere" Dispaired Theo as he shook his head. He wandered off to where Blaise was, making sure to keep his baby cousin in his sight at all times.

"Harry, I need to talk to you."

"Okay, what about?"

"Do you know how we get sorted into the four houses?"

Harry was quiet for a moment. "No, your mum never told me and it seems Hagrid told me very little."

"Well, you get sorted by a-" She was cut off by Hagrid telling them that they needed to follow him as if they hadn't been already.

"What were you going to say, Thalia?"

"I was going to say, we get sorted by-" She was cut off again as someone crashed into her. They both would've fallen if it wasn't for Harry catching them.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I didn't see the tree root." Exclaimed the girl who'd caused Thalia to fall. Thalia couldn't see her face very well in the poor light of Hagrid's lantern but all she could see was extremely frizzy mousey brown hair that seemed to get caught in everything - including Thalia's earing.

"Ow! Just wait a minute, I need to untangle your hair from my earing."

"Why have you get earrings at your age? My parents told me that I couldn't get my ears pierced until I was at least 13 years old."

"I'm guessing you're not a pureblood then?" Whispered Thalia, not wanting to bring the attention of one Ronald Weasley who seemed to be walking extremely close by.

"No, is that a problem?" Her sharp tone made Thalia realise how she'd sounded to the stranger.

"No, unless the muggles who are supposed to be looking after you are planning to hunt us all down." The girl laughed quietly but quickly apologised when she shook her head as it tugged on Thalia's ear painfully.

"Oh I'm so sorry, " They finally managed to free themselves from each other and they moved apart. "My name's Hermione Granger."

"Thalia Nott."

"Oh! I've heard about your family, you're one of the sacred 28 families, I read about you in a magic genealogy book. Well, not you specifically but your family."

Thalia's chuckle at Hermione's rambling caused Hermione to blush and that's when they realised that they and Harry were now at the back of the group.

"Thank you, Harry, for waiting." Thalia grabbed his hand as well as Hermione's as they tried to catch up with the rest of the group.

They managed to catch up with everyone else but only because they were all clambering into boats at Hagrid's instructions.

"No more'n four to a boat!" As they were the last three to arrive, the boats with all of their friends were taken, leaving Harry, Thalia and Hermione to get into the final boat which already had a crying boy in it.

"Oh Neville, have you still not found your toad?" Hermione's sympathetic voice brought the blonde boy to lift his head up and he shook his head slowly.

"No, and my Gran's going to kill me!" Thalia and Harry sympathised with the boy, they both knew what it was like to be punished, even if Harry didn't know that Thalia understood.

"You have plenty of time to find your toad, Neville is it?" He nodded, his tears still streaming down his face. Thalia glanced around nervously, waiting to see him get punished. When she realised that wasn't going to happen, she smiled reassuringly at the tearful boy. "I'm Thalia and don't worry, I'm sure they're just exploring the castle grounds, I'm sure Felix would want to."

To show who Felix was, she pulled her mooncalf out of her pocket. He was wide awake now that it was dark and he was glowing a faint blue sheen, especially in the moonlight. Neville and Hermione both aww'd at little Felix.

"I thought we were only allowed owls, cats or toads?" Questioned Hermione curiously as she gently stroked Felix.

"Which is why you both have to promise not to tell anyone."

"I won't."

"I won't tell anyone."

She realised that Harry had been quiet for a few minutes so she peered up at him only to see him staring ahead of them. She turned and gasped when she saw the sight in front of her.

Hogwarts castle was resting on top of a cliff, the lights showed through its many windows, glittering down onto them, joining the abundance of stars that shown brightly on this clear night. Thalia finally understood her parents - going to Hogwarts felt like coming home. They all stared up at the sight in awe until they were forced to duck through a curtain of ivy into the boat shed. Once they reached the shore, Neville and Harry clambered out - Harry stopping to help the girls out of the boat - Neville rushed ahead in his excitement at the fact that Hagrid had found his toad.

They proceeded to walk up a long stone staircase until they reached a large old oak door. Hagrid knocked three times and the door swung open immediately. Standing in the doorway was a severe-looking woman who had her hair up in a tight bun and her glasses were perched onto her nose. Thalia knew who this was from all of her parents' stories as well as her uncle's angry rants about how the school was now run.

She led them into the grand entrance hall which made her uncle's manor look small before they continued up a magnificent marble staircase towards an empty chamber to the right of the Great Hall. As they were being led through the castle, she felt Harry's hand tighten in hers nervously, her other hand was then grabbed, causing her to jump slightly but luckily it was Theo who was also beginning to get nervous if his tense hold on her hand was anything to go by.

Professor McGonagall introduced herself and launched into a speech that she'd probably told many times. However, Thalia wasn't listening as she had spotted Ronald Weasley creeping closer again to Harry who was, fortunately, oblivious to it all.

What was unfortunate was the comments he made after McGonagall had left.

"Aww, you're all holding hands, I bet in a few years she'll be letting you do other things to her as well. You know, because you're so strict about who you all marry, I would be surprised if you two were engaged and married before you even left Hogwarts." Harry and Theo's grips on her hands became extremely tight - Harry's in anger and Theo's in warning at her to not react.

"You know, Weasley, You'll probably have to marry your sister or maybe even your mother as they're the only two females in your life that will ever love you." Thalia smiled quickly at Malfoy in gratitude for stepping in but it seemed to only make things worse.

"Oh I bet you've also promised Malfoy and all the Slytherins a lot for when you get older, surely the other snake girls must get jealous about how much male attention you're getting."  
Thalia was unable to reply because of the return of Professor McGonagall.

"Now, form a line and follow me." Thalia went between Harry and Theo and as they walked in, she moved forward to whisper in Harry's ear.

"If you get the chance, don't go to Slytherin. It's not safe for you there. Don't trust Ronald, but the Weasley twins are okay." Harry nodded quickly before concentrating on the sorting hat's song.

Thalia didn't really listen to the song, instead, she looked all around the hall - at the tables filled with golden cutlery and curious students, the candles that floated aimlessly above their heads to the ceiling that showed the night sky that they'd seen with their own eyes only a few minutes ago. She observed the teacher's table at the front of the Great Hall and instantly spotted Albus Dumbledore.

The easiest way to stop him is to avoid eye contact with him.

Her uncle's words rang in her head and she instantly studied everything but him in a bid to prevent him from reading her thoughts. Merlin's beard, she should have told Harry not to look him in the eyes.

She refocused once she noticed people were being called up towards the sorting hat. She watched as Millie nervously place that hat on her head and waited, holding her breath, for a few short moments until the hat exclaimed "SLYTHERIN". Crabbe was next in their friendship group and he also was put into Slytherin, as was Daphne, Vincent and Draco.  
Thalia knew that she'd go in front of Theo, even if they shared the same last name and she was extremely worried about what house she was going to be in - What is she became a Gryffindor? Her parents would be fine but her uncle? It was Slytherin or nothing to please him. She didn't even dare think what he'd do if she became a Gryffindor or a Hufflepuff. The thought terrified her, what if he-

"Nott, Thalia"

The clapping had stopped for the last person, they were now all waiting for her. The stool looked so far away, what if she tripped and made an idiot of herself? Theo took away the choice of not going when he suddenly pushed her forward and towards the stool. She couldn't even begin to imagine what it's going to be like for Harry, knowing he needed to stay away from Slytherin, not because they were all evil, but because a select few were a possible threat to him.

She reached the hat and gently lifted it onto her head as she sat down - the eyes of everyone in the hall vanishing behind the soft worn fabric of the sorting hat.

Ah! A Potter and a Nott, the first of that combination that I've seen.

Thalia jumped at the sudden voice in her head. "Hello, you're the sorting hat's voice then?"

Yes, I'm the sorting hat, you're a difficult one, my dear.

"What do you mean by that? And is your voice the voice of the person that made you or did you somehow have a complete random voice?"

You are difficult because you have the curiosity of a Ravenclaw, the loyalty of a Gryffindor and the cunning of a Slytherin.

"No Hufflepuff straights then? My mother was right. But you didn't answer the question, is your voice Godric Gryffindor's or a random voice?"

I don't actually know the answer to that one, it has been so long since I have heard the four founders' voices.

"Surely you wouldn't have forgotten them?"

It has been many generations since I last heard them.

"Do you not live near a portrait of them? I would do that if I was Headmistress, so you'd have someone to talk to during the school year and you wouldn't interrupt me if I was doing something important."

I'm afraid there are no portraits of the founders in this school anymore, they have been lost over the years. Do you wish to become a Headmistress?

"I don't know what I want to become, I just want to make a change in the world so women are less dependent on men. I don't care how I do it, whether I become the best Auror in the wizarding world or if I become the Headmistress of this school.

So you have the ambition to go into a position of power?

"I guess but as long as I'm not stuck being the obedient weak-willed wife of a rich pompous git, I'm content."

Ha! I know just the place you would thrive in, SLYTHERIN!

Thalia said her goodbyes and lifted the hat off her head to see that the Great Hall was silently staring at her. It wasn't until the Slytherin table began to clap that the rest shortly followed - albeit their applause wasn't as strong as it had been for their own houses. The Weasley twins began hissing at her so she smirked and hissed back loudly as she walked passed them to her house table. Laughter followed her to where Daphne, Draco, Greg and Vincent sat waiting for her with happy but confused expressions on their faces.

As soon as she sat down, she watched as Theo was immediately sorted into Slytherin. He walked over quickly and they watched nervously as Harry was sorted into Gryffindor after a few tentative minutes. She let out a sigh of relief as he began happily talking to Hermione and Neville, completely ignoring the youngest Weasley who was sitting a few seats down from him. She turned back to the rest of her friends and her housemates only to see them watching her attentively.

"Yes?" She arched her eyebrow at them causing the majority of them to look down with the exception of her close friends and Theo.

"What were you talking to the hat about?"

Thalia looked at Blaise as he spoke. "Oh, I was just wondering if his voice was that of Godric Gryffindor or his own one that had been created when he had. We also discussed what I wanted to do in life." Thalia shrugged afterwards, think it was no big deal.

"'Lia, you broke the record for the longest hatstall because you were having a conversation with the hat?" Theo looked as if he didn't know whether to laugh or groan in exasperation. Thalia looked around at her friends, confused.

Daphne decided to elaborate. "You were sitting there for nearly seven minutes, people were being to think you were a squib that'd snuck your way in. Dumbledore looked as if he was about to get up and drag you out of here." Everyone laughed uneasily at the poor joke that Daphne tried to make.

"Nott," Her last name was exclaimed from a little way down the table. It wasn't the fact that it was her last name but it was the voice that said it that sent shivers down her spine. Both Thalia and Theo turned to face Marcus Flint who was showing his ugly teeth in a full teeth grin.

"Yes, Flint?" The cousins said in unison causing that giant fifth year to pause. He flung Theo a glare.

"Not you Theodore. I just want to congratulate you on breaking the record, I'm sure your family will be so proud of you. I would also like to ask whether you would allow me to escort you to the common room after dinner?" How dare he ask her in front of everyone, who did he think he is?

"I'm sorry, Flint, I beat you there in regards to escorting Thalia as she has already graciously accepted my humble request." Blaise's lazy declaration was a godsend to Thalia, Flint's murderous expression was not so much.

"I'm sorry, Flint, maybe another time?" Thalia was internally groaning as she said those words but they seemed to have the required reaction as Flint stopped glaring at Blaise in favour of giving her a look that sent chills down her spine.

Thalia was so full by the end of the meal that she completely missed Dumbledore's warning and even missed the Hogwarts school song. She was only roused when Blaise grabbed her hand when they began to rise from their seats - it seemed he didn't even dare given Flint a second of opportunity to think of snatching Thalia away from him.

"First Year Slytherins, follow me!" The girl prefect shouted as she stood next to Flint. They all shuffled over there sleepily, Thalia made sure to keep a firm grip of Blaise's arm as he led her towards the dungeons.

"At least we don't have to climb up all those stairs."

"Yeah but the dungeons are already colder than what my mum said the Gryffindor common room is." Thalia frowned at the fact that Harry would be all alone now, maybe she should have left him alone so he could make more friends that he'd share a dormitory with. No, she had to get him away from Weasley.

They reached a wall covered in rocks that looked like a normal stone wall down in the dungeons.

"Alright, listen up because I'm not going to repeat myself. The password is currently Basilisk, this changes fortnightly so you will need to regularly check the noticeboard because otherwise you're stuck out here. I'm not helping you get in, it's your own fault."

Marcus' words made Thalia want to roll her eyes but she dared not to just in case. The common room was extremely elegant in Thalia's opinion, the black leather furniture, the green flames that lit the dark room. The large glass ceiling that showed the Black Lake particularly captivated Thalia, she could sit on one of the sofa's and look up for hours, even if it wasn't the stars like her mother used to watch every night in the Gryffindor tower.

All of the Slytherins - first year to seventh - gathered around one of the seventh years who stood up when they arrived.

"My name is Lux and I am currently Head Boy. As we are Slytherins there is a certain prejudice against us - every house has one; Gryffindors are the heroes, Ravenclaws are the nerds, Hufflepuffs are the pushovers - we are the evil. Because of this reason, we are treated unfairly by students and staff alike. This means we can't rip into each other because we only have each other, a snake pit is more dangerous than a single snake. For that reason alone, little firsties, you are not to wander around alone, always travel in pairs as the minimum. And, if you have a bone to pick with some other Slytherin, do it in here where there is equal back up and you don't have to watch your backs for some hex-happy Gryffindor who is trying to prove how brave they are. Understood?" Everyone nodded. "Good, get some rest you lot."

The female Slytherin Prefect called Mandisa showed the girls their dormitory whilst Flint showed the boys their own. For once, Pansy and Daphne didn't want to chat and everyone was in agreement as they shuffled around to get ready for bed.

Thalia drifted off to sleep with Felix sharing her pillow, feeling as though she'd forgotten to do something.


End file.
